You are here

Local Dems fear Pence more than Trump

Don’t count Laclede County Democrats among those calling for President Trump’s impeachment.

At least some of them fear Vice President Mike Pence, who would move up to president, more than they do Donald Trump.

That’s what this Republican learned after spending a recent evening with two Laclede County Democratic organizations.

I wasn’t a spy. When I pitched the idea of writing a column about “the other side,” Laura Valenti, chair of the county Democratic Central Committee and a long-ago Daily Record reporter, said I would be welcome at the committee’s monthly meeting and a picnic of the Laclede County Progressive Club later that evening.

And I was. I even ate a hamburger and a hotdog at the picnic as the speaker joked about the Republican in their midst.
But the Trump-is-better-than-Pence position surprised me, considering that most Democrats, including those I met that evening, have no love of our new president.

“Every day there’s a new scandal,” Valenti said at the central-committee meeting. “I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.”
But if Trump is impeached, she added, Democrats are in trouble. Unlike Trump, she said, “Mr. Pence is a politician. He can get things done.”

Tiffany Addington, a member of the central committee from Falcon, said that compared to Trump, “Pence is twice the evil with half the entertainment value.”

Valenti said a President Pence would be no friend to many Democrat constituencies. “The gays, the Mexicans, the women, we’ll all be in trouble.”

For the complete column, see the Weekend print edition of The Daily Record, or view the e-Editiononline.

Tags:

Category:

Search form

Poll

Former mayor Josh Ray complained on his website Friday that he was charged legal fees for a Sunshine Law request. The city attorney has said state law permits the fees. Do you think the city should charge legal fees for processing a Sunshine Law request?